An influential Bahraini business group decided Tuesday to freeze ties with Iran, Iraq and Lebanon in response to what it claims is foreign meddling during Shiite-led protests in the Gulf kingdom.

The move by the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry is likely to ratchet up tensions between the small island nation — which is ruled by a Sunni monarchy and is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet — and Shiite powerhouse Iran and its allies.

Lebanese activists gathered in a warehouse on Tuesday in a show of support for anti-regime protesters in Syria despite severe difficulties finding a venue.

"Twenty-eight hotels in Beirut and across the country refused to allow us to rent a hall to hold a private gathering in support of the Syria protests," said Saleh Mashnouk.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a cheering U.S. Congress on Tuesday he was willing to make "painful compromises" for peace with the Palestinians, but he offered little concrete to entice Palestinians back to the bargaining table.

By giving such a high-profile speech before overwhelmingly supportive U.S. lawmakers, Netanyahu was able to demonstrate to Israelis that he retains strong backing in the United States despite his frosty relations with President Barack Obama.

The United States on Tuesday announced it is imposing sanctions against seven foreign firms, including Venezuelan, Singaporean, and Israeli companies, as part of efforts to check Iran's nuclear ambitions.

It also imposed sanctions against 16 other foreign firms and individuals, including from China, over trade with Iran, Syria and North Korea in goods or technology that may be used for weapons of mass destruction or missiles.

Ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak and his two sons were on Tuesday referred to a criminal court on suspicion of graft and ordering deadly fire against anti-government protesters, state media reported.

The official MENA news agency said the 83-year-old former strongman and his two sons Alaa and Gamal have been charged with "premeditated murder of some participants in the peaceful protests of the January 25 revolution".

Shelling in Yemen's capital killed five supporters of a powerful chieftain on Tuesday, his tribe said, as clashes intensified between embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh's security forces and tribesmen seeking his ouster.

In the second successive day of fighting, a source close to tribal chief Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar told Agence France Presse that "an armored vehicle stationed near the interior ministry fired shells and killed five people" outside his home.

President Barack Obama is a "pawn" who cannot save Israel, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday, in a speech broadcast live on state television.

"You are a pawn who has been given a mission to save American and the Zionist regime but of course you won't be able to do it," Ahmadinejad said, addressing the U.S. president.

Ukrainian prosecutors on Tuesday denied arresting former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko after the pro-Western leader's party said she had been taken into custody.

The 2005 Orange Revolution leader has been repeatedly summoned for questioning on charges that she defrauded the state out of millions while serving as head of ex-Soviet state's government.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy kicked off a summit of the world's most powerful Internet barons in Paris early on Tuesday at the first "e-G8" gathering.

Launching the gathering of heads of online giants such as Facebook, Google and Microsoft, Sarkozy hailed the leaders of the "Internet revolution", but warned the industry that with their power came great responsibility.

Libya's rebels have accepted an invitation to open a representative office in Washington, top United States official Jeffrey Feltman said on Tuesday.

"I delivered a formal invitation to the council for the opening of a representation in Washington," Feltman told a news conference, referring to the rebels' National Transitional Council.